An Opportunity to Help

One of the ongoing themes of our life in the bush is finding ways to grow, raise or find what we need locally. As we've shown with the solar ovens, we've been working on harnessing alternative energy. This has saved us so much in gas costs!

Aside from saving money, another concern is that we live in a country where service can be easily interrupted. In April there were riots in Mansa--the only place with a grocery store for miles around--which meant we couldn't shop for a couple weeks. This month we were concerned with the election violence. Thankfully, our area was not too badly troubled but other sections of Zambia suffered serious violence.
We want to make sure we have supplies available to keep us going in case we have to stay put for awhile.

Two years ago we bought 50 laying hens to provide eggs for the orphanage. Not only does this provide us with eggs but when the hens are laying well we can pay our staff partly in eggs as well which benefits them by providing an inexpensive protein. We also don't have to worry about whether the shops have eggs or worry about them breaking as we bring them home over pothole-ridden roads.

Look how little Troy was 2 years ago!

Over the last two years we have lost a few chickens here and there from disease or pests. We are down to 40 chickens. Additionally, now that these chickens are old, their production has slowed down. At peak production, a hen lays an egg every 30 hours. As they get older, the time between eggs is farther and farther apart. Since we have to feed them the same amount of food regardless, this makes a difference in our profit.

Aren't brown eggs so pretty?

We have noticed that there is a big demand for eggs in our community. There are only two other farms in this district (county) that have hens. Eggs are in very short supply. We've decided to double our chicken population. This will provide not only enough for everyone at the orphanage (over 30 people) but will also allow us to sell trays of eggs to the community. This extra income will help to offset the cost of feeding the chickens.

Now, here is the opportunity! There is a truck coming up this weekend delivering hens to our area. Since the truck is already coming our way, we are being given a discount on the delivery costs. The company selling the chickens is also cheaper than the one we used last time.

Each chicken only costs $11, which includes transporting them all the way from Lusaka. Would you like to help us purchase these 100 chickens? You can help with one or two or twenty. Your choice! Maybe your office could come together to purchase a dozen? Your Sunday School class could help purchase a dozen or two. This will really help us to feed the kids better, reach out to the community, and provide yet allow us to be more self sufficient in case of emergency.

If you would like to help us with this project, you can click on the Paypal donate button up on the right-hand sidebar (if you're reading this via email or reader click on the title to get to the website) and easily send a tax-deductible donation.

For other options for donating, please write me at amymorrowinafrica@gmail.com

Thank you so much!!

Exactly One Year Ago: Comments Regurgitated